NORFOLK, Va. — Some tenants inside MacArthur Center, the three-floor shopping mall located in downtown Norfolk, are planning to close up shop.
JLL Commercial Real Estate listed the property on its website Friday, showingit's up for sale.
Wells Fargo currently owns the mall. It took over after the previous owner, Starwood Property Trust, defaulted on a loan in 2019. Since then, Wells Fargo has hired JLL Commercial Real Estate, a commercial real estate broker, to list the property.
"We plan on leaving next month possibly, right before our lease is up," Kyyan Statan, a manager at Roots said.
Staton said the store has been in MacArthur Mall since 2009. He says the store has seen a significant decline in revenue in recent years.
"We plan on going to either Patrick Henry Mall or possibly Lynnhaven Mall," Staton said. "I would definitely say the mall is dying."
Similar to other malls, MacArthur Center has struggled in recent years. Tyler Jones, a sales associate at the Family Sports Cave, says that appears to be the case.
"Everything is on the internet now. It kind of negates the need to go to stores," Jones said.
Some tenants said they believe the triple shooting at the mall in April 2022, which left one man dead and two others injured, has deterred shoppers.
"There’s been a few shooting altercations that have pushed a lot of customers away from the mall," Staton said.
"It really hurt the reputation a lot. You see cops walking everywhere now," Jones said.
The mall has seen several businesses leave including Nordstrom in 2019, the Apple store in 2021, Texas De Brazil in 2022 and California Kitchen Pizza in December 2022.
The following information is listed on JLL Commercial Real Estate's website:
"Jones Lang LaSalle (“JLL”) has been retained as the exclusive advisor for the sale of the leasehold interest in MacArthur Center (the “Property”), a three-level super regional mall located at 300 Monticello Ave in Norfolk, VA. The Property is situated on approximately 21.3 acres of land (8.3 acres included in this offering) that is leased from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority and is comprised of 914,751 (501,135 owned) square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”). MacArthur Center features an anchor lineup which includes Dillard’s (253,616 SF, non-owned, occupied), Regal Cinemas (80,210 SF, owned, occupied), and a vacant anchor suite (160,000 SF, non-owned), which account for 493,826 square feet and approximately 54.0% of the total GLA."
You can read more about thelisting here.
MacArthur Center has seen several businesses and restaurants leave, including Nordstrom in 2019, as well as other stores like the Apple Store in 2021, Texas de Brazilrestaurant last year and California Pizza Kitchen.
"We are hopeful that this move is the first step in reimagining the MacArthur Center property. The City looks forward to working in partnership with any potential new owners should the property sell," said Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer.
Stay with News 3 for updates.
